Evaluating West Virginia’s Defense – Blue Gold Sports

Earlier this week, West Virginia fired their defensive coordinator, Jordan Lesley, and promoted inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz, who is also the special teams coordinator, to interim defensive coordinator.

The Mountaineers are on their second and final bye week of the season. They have a record of 4-4 (3-2 in the Big 12) and have struggled throughout the season.

The following will look at significant defensive statistics for WVU and see how they stack up amongst all FBS teams throughout Friday’s stats.

WVU has allowed 382.5 total yards per game, which ranks 85th. Of those 382.5 yards, they’ve allowed 261 passing yards per game, which ranks 114th, and 121.5 rushing yards per game, which ranks 38th.

The Mountaineers have 15 sacks through eight games, which is tied for 76th in sacks per game. They’ve had 43 total tackles for loss, 5.4 per game which is tied for 82nd.

In addition to passing defense, another facet they have lacked is turnovers. They’ve gained six turnovers, three fumbles, and three interceptions, which is tied for 118th. Among power-four teams, they have the fourth-least defensive turnovers; Florida State (3), Purdue (4) and UCLA (5) are the only other P4 teams that have less.

West Virginia faces Cincinnati on the road next week as they look to improve defensively with a new playcaller.

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